World

Most Germans unhappy with Merkel's new government - poll

BERLIN (Reuters) - Most Germans are unhappy with Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition, a poll showed on Friday, even as support for the parties that make up her government has hardly changed since September's election.

A Deutschlandtrend poll published on Friday showed 55 percent of those asked were "not very or not at all happy" with the first 100 days of the coalition between Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats.

Social policies have dominated domestic politics since the government took power in December, such as a disputed pension reform, the introduction of a minimum wage and a proposal for a quota of women on non-executive boards.

Merkel suffered an injury at the start of the year and has appeared in public less frequently, contributing to the verdict from some commentators that the new government has done little so far.

Merkel's Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union polled at 41 percent, down one percentage point from the last poll on March 6, largely in line with the 41.5 won at the September 9 election.

The Social Democrats gained one point to 25 percent in the poll conducted on March 25 and 26 for ARD public broadcaster among 1,000 citizens eligible to vote. The SPD won 25.7 percent of the vote in the election.